Parents are struggling to find childcare solutions, such as hiring a nanny. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEJONG, July 29 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s presidential committee on population policy announced an additional set of plans on Monday to ease the housing burden for families with young children, as the government struggles to address critically low birth rates.
Under the new policy, families with children under the age of two will be given top priority in the allocation of government-leased housing, according to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy.
The government will also remove the size restrictions on public housing for these families. For example, households with three members are currently limited to applying for homes smaller than 50 square meters.
South Korea is struggling with demographic challenges, as many young people delay or give up on getting married or having babies due to the protracted economic slowdown, high housing prices and changing social norms about marriage.
The total fertility rate, which represents the average number of expected births per woman over her lifetime, also hit a record low of 0.72 in 2023, significantly below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.
The latest announcement came after the government unveiled a set of measures last month to revitalize births, including loans and tax cuts for families with children.
Additionally, the government has also vowed to crack down on unfair practices in the wedding industry, such as excessive penalties for contract termination and the bundling of unnecessary services.
South Korea’s antitrust regulator plans to launch an investigation into the contract terms used by wedding businesses in August to address these irregularities.
Based on the research, the government plans to establish standard contract guidelines for wedding businesses within the first half of 2025.
Other measures discussed by the committee to encourage more people to have children include offering monthly subsidies of 1.2 million won (US$867) for small and medium-sized businesses recruiting temporary staff replacing employees on parental leave, up from the current 800,000 won.
“We plan to promptly carry out follow-up policies so that the people can feel the impact in the near future,” the committee said in a statement.
(Yonhap)
